Interview with Clara

Click twice on the YouTube video on the right to see and hear Anna's interview with Clara Shannon, our primary contact at the Brushy church of Christ.

Clara talks about her experience on the night of the tornado, relief efforts, the community response to help, and the special place that the Humaniramitarians now have in the hearts of Brushy community members.

Gratitude

This trip was awesome!!!!!! The kindness and love we received on this trip was unimaginable!! The people of Brushy, TN were absolutely wonderful!! I am so grateful we were able to go down there and help others who wanted and needed our help. There were so many kind people there, but a few stuck out in my mind. Gloria and David were so wonderful during the trip. They sacrificed their time and house for us to be able to shower and to cook us the most wonderful food I have ever tasted! Gloria gave me some great advice that I will forever remember; she said whatever we decide to do in life, make sure we love every minute of it. She had been a postman for many years and she loved her job. She said 'do something that will make you want to get up in the morning';she is absolutely right. James and his wife were so nice and were full of stories that made you grateful for every moment you have on earth. Then there was Mary who was a feisty lady with so much life in her it made me burst into a smile every time I saw her. These folks were so kind and amazing; these are the people you wish were your in your family. They shined with so much happiness even though their friends, family, and community had been involved in so much tragedy. I honestly love these people, even if I have not known them for long. I wish the best for them and the people of Brushy, TN and I hope to be in contact with them soon.

Trip Highlights

What a great trip! We're home safely after a powerful two weeks of service and cultural exchange. Unity College should once again be proud of our student ambassadors.

Students will be blogging details, but trip highlights include:

• Working and living with the folks of Brushy TN. Hi to Clara, Gloria, Mary, James, David, and all the folks in Brushy!
• Working on Bonnie's farm in Liberty TN, attending the Tennessee Organic Grower's Association conference at Tennessee State University and presenting Elliot Coleman and Cindy Devlin with a Unity College T-Shirts.
• Staying with family and friends. Hi and thanks to the Knippers (all 243 of you!), the McGalliards, and Paul and Jamie.
• Seeing live music: A bunch of folks in Nashville (we're going to be in a music video!); Robinella in Knoxville; Fox Run in Johnson City, Tennessee. And making some of our own too.
• Meeting up with friends along the way: Unity Alum Jason York (Hot Springs), Unity student Tom Frezza (West VA), Melonee McKinney (Nashville), Becky's pals in Asheville and Amanda's pals in Knoxville.
• Horseback riding, hiking and touring historical sites in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
• And lots of bonding time in the vans.

Time for a nap...

John

T.O.G.A! T.O.G.A!

After a week of working (both on Bonnie's Farm and in Brushy, TN) we treated ourselves to a day off in Nashville. The organic farming gods and godesses were smiling on the Humaniramitarians, because our first day of rest happened to fall on the annual Tennessee Organic Growers' Association (or T.O.G.A) conference. (www.tnorganics.org)

The President of T.O.G.A, Cindy Delvin, was a huge help in connecting with potential partners down south, such as Bonnie. Cindy also gave our whole crew scholarships to attend the conference, which included a beautiful local foods luncheon. This time of year in Tennessee, that means way more than squash and potatoes!

Eliot Coleman, fellow Mainer and world famous organic inovator, was the keynote speaker. Not only did I get to chat with him, have my New Organic Grower signed, and give him a Unity College T-shirt, but the Humaniramitarians are coming home with our Horticulture Department's broadfork autographed...yep, we're that dorky. (Or rather, I am that dorky and the rest of the crew was just that supportive.)

We felt so at home at T.O.G.A. and also so proud of our association with MOFGA. Just all over warm and fuzzy feelings...

More to come; stay tuned.

Hospitality Feeds Hard Work

For many of us, this trip is a first extended stay in the South. And while many speak of the extreme hosopitality this region of the country is known for, it was truely overwhelming.

We arived ready for work. Some with only a vague idea of the type of work that might be needed. Even so, as a group, we remained steadfast with enthusiasm to help those in need.

Every day, meals were provided by hardworking individuals from the community. In exchange, we provided them and their imediate comunity with physical labor and emotional support. The interaction couldn't have been any more harmonious.

For those wondering, a typical work day looked something like this:

We split our time sleeping inside on the floor of the Brushy Church of Christ, and the outdoors where we crashed in the tents we brought with us.

A little after 5 am folks from the community would show up and begin preparing breakfast for the crew. Those in our group would begin to wake up around 6 and get the rest of the group moving as needed.

Once awake and mobile, community memebers and Unity College folk would gather for breakfast in a building owned by the curch.

Euuwee, the food was good. We ate and we ate. Then we ate somemore.

Following breakfast, we would begin to collect for a hard days work.

In the begining, the unity crew was devided into two groups which worked for separate road-work crews from Hickman County.

This work

Forest Soil

Woah, what a huge week!!!! Since there are so many of us, I am going to write about my first highlight.

Bonnie's Farm- this incredible little piece of land surrounded on three sides by a ridge of forested hills. The non-hilled side looked out on the surrounding Tennessee farm land. It was sunny and breezy and absolutely wonderful!

We split into teams at the farm and a troop of us went into the woods to gather forest soil. Bonnie does this thing where she gathers forest soil and brings it back to the garden to mix with the normal garden soil. The 'why' of that is kind of beyond me, I only understand that there are differant bacteria and fungi in the forest soil and so it brings a new something to the garden. It was cool though, and I think a new experience for all of us. She brought us to a spot that she remembered had good soil and instructed us to walk around until the soil feels soft under our feet. Then we cleared the leaves and dug up the soft forest soil and brought it back in bags to the garden.

There were a bunch of old, falling-down buildings on the farm, and an old house whose roof was falling in. We couldn't go into any of the buildings, but they were neat to look at. The farm and the woods have a gorgeous creek running through it with walls made long ago along the embankment. Bonnie took us on a walk to see a small waterfall in the creek and told us dozens of stories about the plants she has seen there. She also showed us a new tree (to me, at least), called Old Sage Orange. The roots are bright orange and look like carrots.

The actual farm was really small, more like a garden. It was cute, without strait edges and all kinds of round fences to keep the deer out. We got the entire garden dug up and planted lettuce, peas and...spinich? I cant remember all of that, but it was marvelous!

Relief Work Relief

Hi everyone!

Thanks so much for posting your little hearts out while we've been incommunicato in the field in Brushy TN.

The students will be posting today while we're getting rejuvenated, cleaned up, and just a little rested in Knoxville (thanks Tom and Nancy), so I'll just give the overview.

Since Sara's last post about the work on Bonnie Hall's farm, we've spent a very full work week helping the residents of Brushy Tennessee get a little more on their feet after at least one tornado came down the Brushy Road hollow. First we worked with two county road crews clearing fallen trees from people's yards along Brushy Road. The other time was spent working off of "Clara's List."

Clara gave us a list of the folks in the hollow who were the most in need of some help and I'm proud to say that we were able to give at least a little assistance to each of the ten families on it.

Details, pictures, descriptions, thank yous and more should be appearing very soon--stay tuned!

John